


Photophobia

by zoe_trope



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-08
Updated: 2020-06-08
Packaged: 2021-03-03 21:54:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 960
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24602698
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/zoe_trope/pseuds/zoe_trope
Summary: yo i haven't written a fanfic in YEARS i hope u enjoyed this!
Relationships: Dave Strider & Karkat Vantas
Kudos: 3





	Photophobia

Dave grumbled noisily in his dorm room. Despite the lights being off, and the clouds in the sky outside, everything felt so overwhelming and bright. He couldn’t escape the faintest sunbeams filtering through the gaps in his blackout curtains, no matter how tightly he tried to pull them together. A migraine pounded behind his red eyes.  
His eyes were incredibly sensitive, some days more than others. Very few people outside of his family knew about his condition, and his matesprit was not one of them. He’d only been with Karkat for a couple of months, after all, and Dave wasn’t keen on telling just anyone that he could hardly stand some LED lights; that driving on the highway at night was a death sentence without his shades. His phone screen, laptop monitor, anything he could control always had the brightness at its lowest setting. He didn’t like to ask for help with anything, but especially with this. However, the trip into the bright hallway seemed like a death sentence.  
He fumbled for his phone and called Karkat, grimacing in pain at the light. His head was already pounding, and though he loved it normally, his boyfriend’s voice was not helping.  
“Shhh Karkat please lower your voice,” he muttered, holding the phone a few inches from his ear.  
Karkat was slightly taken aback by the comment, but tried his best for his matesprit.  
“Sorry my voice is too harsh on your hear ducts, Strider, what do you need?” he asked, trying to whisper. His voice was comforting to Dave, even if his whisper was still rather loud, and worsening Dave’s headache.  
“Can you bring me some pain killers? I, uh, can’t get up at the moment,” Dave replied, his voice barely audible. Karkat rolled his eyes but agreed. He could easily see this being a stupid joke or an elaborate pick up line on Dave’s part.  
“Fine, yeah, I’ll be there soon.” He hung up and walked over to their shared dorm bathroom, grabbing a bottle of medicine from Dave’s cabinet, and knocked on his door before entering. The knocks were like bombs in Dave’s ears as he stumbled to the door, opening it very slowly.  
The hallway light flooded in, making him cringe and squeeze his eyes shut. He grabbed Karkat’s arm and pulled him into the room, pushing him past the light switch to avoid any attempts at turning it on.  
“I really, really appreciate this,” Dave said, taking the medicine out of Karkat’s hand. He shook out two pills and clumsily fished around in his mini fridge for a bottle of water.  
He took the pills and drank the water as if he hadn’t drank in years, cold water running down his chin as he gulped. He was incredibly glad Karkat couldn’t see him becoming that water’s bitch.  
“Dave what the fuck is going on right now, why is it so dark in here?” Karkat asked, moving towards his matesprit. His voice was still low and concerned, even more so now that this didn’t seem like an intricate ruse.  
Dave walked over to Karkat, and hugged him, pulling the shorter man into his chest. Karkat hugged him back, his face dampened by Dave’s watery mishap. He took his arm again, and climbed into his bed, pulling the troll with him.  
“I have a condition called photophobia,” Dave said, looking in the general direction of Karkat.  
“What the fuck does that even mean.”  
Dave sighed, running his fingers through his hair. Why didn’t everyone just know the scientific names of various conditions and diseases?  
“So, y’know, my eyes are red and I wear sunglasses all the time, even indoors sometimes? Lights burn the shit out of my eyes, bro. Usually just the sun, that luminous motherfucker, but sometimes, like, LEDs and fluorescent lights wreck my shit, dude. It was really bad today because I fell asleep watching shit on my laptop and my corneas are butthurt about it,” Dave explained. Karkat scooted closer to him so that their knees were touching.  
“Why didn’t you tell me this a long ass time ago?” Karkat asked. Dave patted his way up Karkat’s arm to his shoulder, doing his best to look Karkat in what was hopefully his eyes.  
“In high school you asked me why I wore shades all the time, and I told you I had photophobia, to which John said, and I quote, ‘Dave is scared of pictures’ and that shit was so funny there was no way I was correcting him. Also how fuckin’ dumb is it that I get consistently wrecked by lights? Fucking lights? We need that shit to live and my eyes said ‘nah, I’d rather just burn.” Dumb shit, Karkat. Dumb shit.”  
“Oh my fucking GOD, Egbert ruins everything,” Karkat groaned, putting his face into his hands. Dave laughed and pulled the troll onto his lap.  
“Is this secretly a stupid prank brought to me by you and Egbert?” He asked, blushing furiously in the darkness. Dave couldn’t see it, but he knew his man well enough to feel it.  
“No, I genuinely will bleat like a goat if any light gets in here, and the only thing keeping us from witnessing that truly pivotal moment in this relationship are those painkillers.” Dave paused, kissing Karkat on the cheek.  
“Really, man, thank you.”  
Karkat stayed, cuddling and trying his best to ‘whisper’ with Dave for several hours until he could bear the hallway lights without his shades on. Dave, of course, dragged out his suffering for a little longer than it actually lasted, to enjoy more time with his boyfriend. In return, he didn’t put on his shades when they left for dinner, because all Karkat wanted to do was see his beautiful eyes.

**Author's Note:**

> yo i haven't written a fanfic in YEARS i hope u enjoyed this!


End file.
